How to widen a skirt

Has your favorite skirt shrunk and won’t fit? No problem! Today you will learn how to widen a skirt.

How to widen a skirt if it is small

Today there are the following ways to widen a tight skirt:

• insert wedges;
• alter if there is room in the seams;
• reduce darts.

We’ll talk about which method is best suited for which purposes and models a little later.
“Extension” has its own contraindications:

1. You won't be able to alter a skirt if there is no fabric left in the allowances.
2. You should not do this if the product is already different in color from the allowances. Faded in the sun or faded during washing.
3. It is better not to alter a product made of thin fabric, on which holes from old seams will remain and be visible.

Please note that increasing an item by more than 1 size is problematic. And not every skirt can withstand this.

How to embroider a skirt at the hips

Required:

• ripper, blade or small scissors;
• needle;
• thread;
• sewing machine;
• iron;
• centimeter.

Preparation:

• Measure your hips and skirt hips. Find the difference between them and divide it by 4.
• The resulting number is the amount by which you need to embroider the skirt. It’s easier to change each allowance by the resulting number of centimeters.
• Inspect the seam allowances to see if they have the amount of fabric you need. If there is no stock, then there is no point in starting to expand this skirt.

How to sew:

1. Spread the product at the seams. Iron the seams with steam.
2. Fold the halves of the skirt together and baste new seams, you can pre-mark them with chalk. If you have experience in sewing, you can immediately use basting thread.  Please note that in this case it is better not to change the darts.
3. Sew and iron the seams.
4. If the product has a button or hooks, do not forget to alter them too.

In this way, you can expand and, if necessary, sew in the skirt. How to decorate a finished skirt and get a new thing you will read here.

How to widen the bottom of a skirt

The next option is also suitable for widening the skirt at the hips.  It is better to use this method to expand a skirt consisting of wedges.
Required:

• 1 meter of fabric;
• ripper, blade or small scissors;
• threads;
• needle;
• steamer;
• sewing machine.

Fabric consumption depends on the size of the extension. If you want to widen the bottom of your skirt by a couple of centimeters, the amount of fabric is equal to the widening. Don't forget about seam allowances.  Choose any fabric color. But if you want to look slimmer in the hips, then choose a fabric darker than the color of the skirt.

How to sew:

1. Determine the size of the future product, measure the volume of the skirt and decide how many centimeters are missing.
2. Cut triangles of the required size from the auxiliary fabric. Take seam allowances into account too.
3. The skirt is ripped from the bottom to the hips, the seams are smoothed with an iron.
4. Insert triangles of new fabric into the resulting holes. Sew with a basting stitch.
5. Next, put on a skirt and evaluate whether this width is enough for you.
6. Sew seams and press.

For this method, you can use a thin satin ribbon and sew it into the side seams in the form of stripes.
A godet skirt can be embroidered by inserting bias satin ribbon into all seams.
Sun skirt embroidered by cutting a piece of the required length and putting it on top, instead of a belt.   This way the skirt line will go lower. You can read how and with what to wear a skirt here.